Consensus board vs. draft day: the full WR class, charted.
The Steal
Tez Johnson was ranked WR16 on the consensus board (#133 overall) but lasted until pick 235, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in Round 7. A 102-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any WR in the class. Behind him, Tory Horton (+67) and Elic Ayomanor (+66) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The New York Jets took Arian Smith at pick 110, 147 spots ahead of his #257 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Isaac TeSlaa (101 spots) and Chimere Dike (100 spots).
The Cliff
After Tory Horton went at pick 166, the next WR didn't come off the board for 37 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 30 picks on WR, 7 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 32.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Carolina Panthers spent more draft capital on WR than any other club: picks 8 and 208, 37% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Isaiah Bond, ranked #106 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 257 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Tetairoa McMillan | WR1 | #10 | −2 | Arizona | Carolina |
| 19 | Emeka Egbuka | WR3 | #25 | −6 | Ohio State | Tampa Bay |
| 23 | Matthew Golden | WR2 | #24 | −1 | Texas | Green Bay |
| 34 | Jayden Higgins | WR5 | #45 | −11 | Iowa State | Houston |
| 39 | Luther Burden III | WR4 | #29 | +10 | Missouri | Chicago |
| 55 | Tre Harris | WR8 | #60 | −5 | Mississippi | LA Chargers |
| 58 | Jack Bech | WR7 | #59 | −1 | TCU | Las Vegas |
| 69 | Kyle Williams | WR11 | #82 | −13 | Washington State | New England |
| 70 | Isaac TeSlaa | WR20 | #171 | −101 | Arkansas | Detroit |
| 74 | Pat Bryant | WR19 | #163 | −89 | Illinois | Denver |
| 79 | Jaylin Noel | WR6 | #56 | +23 | Iowa State | Houston |
| 87 | Savion Williams | WR12 | #97 | −10 | TCU | Green Bay |
| 102 | Tai Felton | WR15 | #129 | −27 | Maryland | Minnesota |
| 103 | Chimere Dike | WR21 | #203 | −100 | Florida | Tennessee |
| 108 | Dont'e Thornton Jr. | WR18 | #158 | −50 | Tennessee | Las Vegas |
| 110 | Arian Smith | WR27 | #257 | −147 | Georgia | New York Jets |
| 128 | Jaylin Lane | WR17 | #157 | −29 | Virginia Tech | Washington |
| 133 | Jalen Royals | WR10 | #74 | +59 | Utah State | Kansas City |
| 136 | Elic Ayomanor | WR9 | #70 | +66 | Stanford | Tennessee |
| 138 | Jordan Watkins | WR36 | #304 | −166 | Mississippi | San Fransisco |
| 158 | KeAndre Lambert-Smith | WR22 | #206 | −48 | Auburn | LA Chargers |
| 166 | Tory Horton | WR13 | #99 | +67 | Colorado State | Seattle |
| 203 | LaJohntay Wester | WR31 | #279 | −76 | Colorado | Baltimore |
| 208 | Jimmy Horn Jr. | WR29 | #271 | −63 | Colorado | Carolina |
| 235 | Tez Johnson | WR16 | #133 | +102 | Oregon | Tampa Bay |
| 238 | Ricky White III | WR23 | #209 | +29 | UNLV | Seattle |
| 240 | Kaden Prather | WR25 | #246 | −6 | Maryland | Buffalo |
| 242 | Konata Mumpfield | WR34 | #290 | −48 | Pittsburgh | LA Rams |
| 244 | Dominic Lovett | WR32 | #282 | −38 | Georgia | Detroit |
| 252 | Junior Bergen | WR37 | #573 | −321 | Montana | San Fransisco |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Isaiah Bond | WR14 | #106 | — | Texas | — |
| — | Elijhah Badger | WR24 | #227 | — | Florida | — |
| — | Ja'Corey Brooks | WR26 | #247 | — | Louisville | — |
| — | Antwane Wells Jr. | WR28 | #260 | — | Mississippi | — |
| — | Sam Brown Jr. | WR30 | #277 | — | Miami | — |
| — | Da'Quan Felton | WR33 | #289 | — | Virginia Tech | — |
| — | Isaiah Neyor | WR35 | #293 | — | Nebraska | — |
| — | Beaux Collins | WR | — | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Nate McCollum | WR | — | — | North Carolina | — |
| — | Montorie Foster | WR | — | — | Michigan State | — |
| — | Jakobie Keeney-James | WR | — | — | UMass | — |
| — | Tyrone Broden | WR | — | — | Arkansas | — |
| — | Jamaal Pritchett | WR | — | — | South Alabama | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.